Store Bought Cheese

On my search to veganize cheese pizza, spinach artichoke dip, and quesadillas, I tried some of the store-bought vegan cheeses. They were okay, edible, but not amazing. They had a cheese-like quality but they didn’t melt and they all had an off taste that wasn’t exactly the traditional cheese flavor that I was looking for.

I stopped trying store-bought cheese and started trying different recipes to make my own.

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

It has a cheese-like consistency, it melts well, it’s spreadable, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for! I would say that taste-wise it’s similar to mozzarella cheese and it’s perfect for easy vegan quesadillas, pizza, and veggie burgers.

Easy Vegan Quesadillas

You only need a few ingredients to make the cheese for the easy vegan quesadillas. It’s so easy, and it only takes 5 minutes to make the creamiest, cheesiest, tastiest vegan cheese you’ll ever taste!

Tapioca flour (aka tapioca starch) is the ingredient that was missing from all of my other failed cheese attempts. Tapioca flour (this is the organic tapioca flour that I use) is made from the crushed pulp of the cassava root; it’s gluten-free and often used as a thickener in recipes. It’s what gives vegan cheese the stretchy factor!

When you blend the tapioca flour with blended cashews, garlic, and seasonings, you get the creamiest, gooey, vegan cheese ever! It’s absolutely perfect for easy vegan quesadillas or pizza!

What Does Vegan Cheese Taste Like?

I swear you won’t be able to tell the difference. If I hadn’t made the quesadilla myself, I wouldn’t have known it was made with vegan cheese. It’s seriously delicious, it really tastes just like dairy cheese. It’s so creamy!

I didn’t tell my husband either. I just gave it to him and asked him what he thought about it after he ate it. He was shocked when I told him that the quesadilla was made with vegan cheese!

What Should You Put In The Quesadillas?

You could always make a cheese-only quesadilla but we prefer to load it with fresh veggies!

I like to use fresh spinach, thinly-sliced raw zucchini, and juicy artichoke hearts. Sometimes I throw in all the leftover veggies from our dinner the night before.

Last week, I made vegan crab cake burgers with spicy chipotle sauce for dinner. I had a little bit of the chipotle sauce leftover so Travis dunked his quesadilla slices in the chipotle sauce and I drizzled the last of it over my quesadilla. You could also use hot sauce, pesto sauce, teriyaki sauce, or whatever sauce you prefer.

Once the cheese is prepared, start to assemble the quesadillas. Spread 2-3 tbsps on one of the tortillas, add a handful of spinach, zucchini slices (use a small hand mandolin to slice the zucchini thinly and evenly), and artichoke hearts. Spread 2-3 tbsps on a second tortilla and place it on top.

Put the quesadilla in a pan and saute it until browned and crispy on both sides, 3-4 minutes per side.

I was so excited to check this out and then I saw “nutritional yeast”. I can totally taste most brands of this in recipes and have such an aversion to it. Do you use a fortified nutritional yeast? I find those are the ones I can taste the most (not in a good way). I have tried to like it. Cashews are the BOMB for vegan cheeses though!

Hello! I’m honestly not sure if it’s fortified or not, I get it from the bulk section at the market so I don’t have a label that I can go check. Maybe you could try it without the nutritional yeast? The texture won’t be affected, it’s just for a cheesier flavor but it’s not 100% necessary. I’m sorry I can’t offer more help!